Opticron's new Travelscope (1 Viewer)

The HDF-T zoom eyepiece is equivalent to a 24-8mm zoom eyepiece in "astro terms".

So you can work the focal length of any Opticron spotting scope back from there:

MM3 and GS52: 24x12 = 288mm
IS60: 15x24 = 360mm
IS70R: 16x24 = 384mm
GS665 and HR66: 18x24 = 432mm
ES80: 20x24 = 480mm
HR80: 24x24 = 576mm

HTH.

Cheers, Pete

Just wanted to share an ebird checklist complete with pics taken through the MM3 spotting scope and 13x fixed eyepiece via my IPhone.

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17942144

pete_gamby said:

The HDF-T zoom eyepiece is equivalent to a 24-8mm zoom eyepiece in "astro terms".

So you can work the focal length of any Opticron spotting scope back from there:

MM3 and GS52: 24x12 = 288mm

Click to expand...

Thanks Pete, now I know the focal length of the MM3 is 288mm. That is obtained by multiplying (36)(8), or (12)(24), the product of magnification and the eyepiece focal length.

Here is my new MM3, mounted on the lightweight Benro S2 video head. The head is mounted on a Benro C-158 n6 carbon-fiber tripod which weighs 2.8 pounds. The whole assemblage -- scope, head, and tripod -- weighs 5.5 pound.


For its maiden voyage I took the scope to Veterans Oasis Park in Gilbert this morning. I had no camera adapter, but the rubber eyecup exactly fits the end of the lens barrel on my Sony RX-100. I held the camera in place during a 2-second time delay. This angry bird is scolding me, for not having a proper adapter.

I took the MM3 and the RX100 to the Desert Botanical Gardens this morning. Here is a photo of a Desert Spiny Lizard, taken with the eyepiece set at 12X, and the camera at max zoom (100mm equiv). This gives the largest exit pupil and seems the best choice for digiscoping.

As in the previous post, I shot without a camera adapter since this camera lens fits so snugly into the rubber cup of the eyepiece.

According to the digiscoping calculator http://www.jayandwanda.com/digiscope/digiscope_calc.html this set-up has the 35mm equivalent of a 1200mm f8.9 lens.

I made the first serious use of my MM3 yesterday, in dark overcast weather. I did not have the is60ed next to me at this time, but by comparing my views with memory, the MM3 with the HDF performed much better even at max zoom than the is60 with its HR2 eye-piece. Given that the weight also is less, that is some serious pro.

However, I would also like to mention a con or two: this combo is seriously back-heavy. It should be possible to move the tripod attachment back. I realize that would ruin the option of adjustable tripod collar: but any adjustments will be impossible anyway with the stay on case there.

The second con is specifically for the black stay on case, which is the only one available from Eagle optics where I purchased. The problem is with the strap being very slippery, so it easily slipped off my shoulder. I think maybe dropping this type of strap from the catalog might be an improvement.

Niels

njlarsen said:

However, I would also like to mention a con or two: this combo is seriously back-heavy. It should be possible to move the tripod attachment back. ...

Click to expand...

This is not a problem with my Benro S2 Video Head http://www.amazon.com/Benro-S2-Vide...&qid=1398045357&sr=8-1&keywords=benro+s2+head. This comes with a mounting plate that stays on the scope (or camera), and this plate can be move forward or aft in a slot before tightening it down with the mounting screw. Perfect balance can be achieved.

The strap with the Green cover certainly does'nt have this problem it's very 'grippy' indeed!

Laurie:t:

Hi Neils

I think you'll find most 50mm travelscopes are a bit back heavy due to the weight of the prism housing end and the eyepiece being attached being heavier than the 50mm OG end.
Laurie is right in saying that the Green SOC has a better grip on the strap as it's made of neoprene rather than nylon. The green SOC's tend to be more Birdwatcher orientated ie colour, Matt finish, and the strap etc...

Cheers
Rob

Got myself an MM3 for backpacking and am using it with a HDF zoom eyepiece. I have to say I've been very impressed with the setup so far and having the scope on top of a very small tripod (Velbon Ultra Luxi L) it seems to me to be an ideal travelscope! Attached some photos for anyone interested, with my trusty steed for scale.

However a couple of days back I was trying to use the scope to pick out a duck that was probably about half a mile away (a baikal teal...) and found that I would have really liked that little bit greater magnification. The image did look like it could have been pushed a little further as at 36X it was still reasonably bright (bright day) and the detail wasn't too poor. Does anybody have experience of the HDF eyepiece that gives 45X (Model 40860M) on the MM3? Am I asking a bit too much of what is otherwise a pretty sweet scope?!

louisfh said:

...Does anybody have experience of the HDF eyepiece that gives 45X (Model 40860M) on the MM3? Am I asking a bit too much of what is otherwise a pretty sweet scope?!

Click to expand...

Even if the scope objective could support it (with respect to resolution), I'm skeptical that the 45x would reveal much more than the 36x view, which is only an increase in magnification of 25% (It's like switching from 8x to 10x bins, whereas using the scope at 36x is a 450% increase over 8x binoculars).

Nice tripod. That's the one I use with my Nikon 50ED when I'm going light. Quick to set up, highly versatile for height and leg angle, solid when not fully extended, but I switched the head to a RRS BH-25 ballhead to drop even more weight.

--AP

digiscoping with MM3 and Sony RX100

As long as the subject is in strong sunlight I find that the RX100 works well on autofocus. I continue to simply hold the camera up to the eyepiece with the zoom set at the least magnification (12X).

I walked around the Phoenix Zoo this morning. Here is a closeup of a King Vulture, taken with the scope at its closest focusing distance of about eight feet. The vulture was in a caged enclosure but this setup can often render the cage invisible due to shallow depth of field.

Nice set up Lou - pity about the bike 'tho (mine's a Brompton)

Got bugger all to look at but still enjoying the MMmmmmmmm3.......

Laurie:t::t::t:

rollingthunder said:

Got bugger all to look at ...

Click to expand...

Well then, you should drive down to Somerset. I was there four weeks ago, at Ham Walk near Glastonbury, and saw my first bittern. You don't know how lucky you are!

Nikon 50ED straight vs Opticron MM3

Based on reviews and eyepiece availability/selection I recommended the MM3 to a friend who purchased an angled body with the 24x eyepiece (special order via Eagle Optics since they don't regularly stock Opticron eyepieces or body only MM3). I had a chance to look through it a bit in the field this past weekend. I didn't do any rigorous testing, but the optical quality was excellent--a very comfortable view, good eye relief wearing glasses, bright and superb contrast, resolution across most of the field superb. Sun falling directly on the objective had minimal effect on the view, and performance against the sun and looking at ducks on the water with bright backlighting was excellent. The dual knob focus didn't seem necessary to me for what is inherently a low magnification scope, but it operated very smoothly and with no slop. The tripod mounting foot is definitely more robust (solid metal) than that of the 50ED, even the improved version that I have (with solid metal thread rather than helicoil) since Nikon replaced my original 50ED body under warranty.

In comparison to my straight Nikon 50ED with 27x WF eyepiece (same optical formula predecessor to the MC and DS versions but more compact and maybe not as efficient multicoating), the view was overall very similar. The most obvious differences to me were that the Opticron was not as sharp at the edges of the view (due to aberrations that I could not focus out) and that it had some blue color fringing and other CA around objects well off-axis (nearly nonexistent in the Nikon), but these differences were trivial (even to someone like me who likes to use the full view), and I don't think that I would select one scope over the other based on optics. Otherwise, the biggest differences were in size and weight. The MM3 is small, but the ED50 is definitely smaller in size and lighter weight. If you are the sort of person who would choose the Leica 8x20 Ultravid BL over the Nikon HG for its smaller size, you'll want to take the trouble to put together a Nikon 50ED kit. Otherwise, the MM3 is a great little scope with the option of fixed WA eyepieces, and here in the USA, getting the MM3 body only and with 24x eyepiece is easier than ordering the Nikon equivalent from Japan.

--AP

I think the dual focusing option is an advantage when using the HDF zoom at max zoom (36x I believe). At less magnification it is really not important.

Niels

Allan - when i said i had a bike, that's all i've got mate It's bike or foot for me, generally speaking - Ham Wall is a superb place, on a good day it's the only place in the UK where you can see all of the UK's egrets and herons (except Cattle probably).........:eek!:

Laurie:t:

rollingthunder said:

Ham Wall is a superb place, on a good day it's the only place in the UK where you can see all of the UK's egrets and herons ...

Click to expand...

I feel lucky to have seen Ham Wall. This was on my penultimate day in England while driving around Cornwall and Devon for two weeks. I parked at Steart Peninsula, now being developed as a wetlands. A birder there told me that I'd be better off at Ham Wall, so off I went.

I strolled with a birder who was carrying a huge lens. I told him that I wanted to see a bittern. He replied that we might hear one calling, but that a sighting was not likely. "Oh! There's one now!" he exclaimed as a bittern flew about fifty feet over our heads. My spell of magic was unbroken.

I was in the West Country from 4-18 March, and saw not a drop of rain. Actually I wanted to see some rain, a scarce commodity in Arizona.

aostling said:

I was in the West Country from 4-18 March, and saw not a drop of rain.

Click to expand...

You should have come to my bit of the West Country, I recorded 69.4mm or 2.7in over those days . Already had 33.3in this year.

Glad you saw a Bittern, always a thrill.

Torview said:

You should have come to my bit of the West Country, I recorded 69.4mm or 2.7in over those days ...

Click to expand...

Perhaps we met, American chap ringing your front doorbell on a back road south of Cotehele, lost without a map. I made it back to Plympton okay. The one day Plymouth got rain during my four days in your area I was exploring Dartmoor and saw only mist. After that I was four days in Lostwithiel, dry as toast.

Does anyone know where to get a straight version of this scope in the US?

Thanks